The Telegraph, 6 December, Matt Ridley
The one thing that cheered us Northumbrians up as we waited for power to come back on after Storm Arwen (some wit points out that naming these daughters of Boreas only seems to encourage them) was to grumble: “if this was in the Home Counties we would never hear the end of it”. But it is not funny that thousands of homes are still waiting for reconnection, some with elderly occupants.
I can vouch that five days of living in the cold and dark when the nights are more than twice as long as the days does not half remind you of the value of reliable electricity, diesel cars (how else do you charge a phone?) and gas stoves to cook on – all three of which are about to be banned by the eco-commissars.
The longer term devastation in Northumberland is to trees. Where I live the damage is patchy: some whole woods are flattened, some veteran oaks uprooted and huge pines snapped off. But mostly the wind knocked down patches of woods and when the mess is cleared, that will leave woodland clearings that saplings will slowly fill.
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